(MASDC.III)

Many people with an interest in aviation will be aware of the United States military aircraft storage facility near Tucson, Arizona.  'AMARC' (pronounced a-mark), the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center currently holds over 4000 aircraft and forms part of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. 

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A BRIEF HISTORY

The area on which AMARC now stands originally held Tucson's municipal airport which was opened around 1919 and subsequently became a military establishment.  In 1927 the airport was dedicated as Davis-Monthan Field in honour of  two local airmen who had died in military aviation accidents, Samuel H Davis and Oscar Monthan.

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Following the end of World War 2 and as the cold war intensified, it was decided that a storage facility where war surplus aircraft could be preserved for possible use at a later date was needed.  The Tucson facility was eventually chosen for the purpose due to its low rainfall and humidity and its hard baked soil, eliminating the need for purpose built hardstands.

The first aircraft to arrive for storage were B-29 Superfortresses and C-47 Dakotas in early 1946.  By mid 1946 over 900 aircraft were present and by July 1960 this total had risen to over 4000.  The facility was known under various Air Force names until early 1965 when it was renamed the 'Military Aircraft Storage and Disposition Center', known as 'MASDC' (pronounced maz-dic).  This change was to emphasize the inter-service nature of the facility following the arrival  of US Army and US Navy aircraft for storage.

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In 1985 the name was changed again to the 'Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center', 'AMARC' (pronounced a-mark), to underscore the dynamic aspect of the center's mission and to try to lose its image as a 'boneyard'.  The facility in fact regenerates a significant sum back into the US economy by the sale of aircraft, parts regeneration and other business enterprises and is not simply an aircraft graveyard.

B36's in storage in the late 1950's

AMARC AT WORK

The Maintenance Directorate is split into four main divisions:  Aircraft Division, Storage Division, Commodities Division and Disposal Division.  These essentially replace the three old activities of aircraft management, Process In, Process Out and Reclamation.

Aircraft Division

The Aircraft Division is responsible for regeneration and specialised aircraft repair.  Currently the Division is participating in several major programmes involving two main types of aircraft, the F-4 Phantom II and the A-10 Thunderbolt II.

Storage Division

The Storage Division prepares aircraft for short and long-term storage and maintains them while at AMARC.

Commodities Division

The Commodities Division includes the reclamation branch and the A-10 wing repair branch.  A major component of the AMARC workload is the removal, inspection, repair and delivery of parts and sub-assemblies from stored aircraft in support of its customers’ requirements.

Disposal Division

The Disposal Division manages all excess Department of Defense aircraft at AMARC.  The Division’s proceeds from sales of aircraft and scrap metal exceeds $2m annually.

Considerably larger sections on the history and processes at AMARC

are contained in the  AMARC (MASDC III) book